PRO BASKETBALL

PRO BASKETBALL; Nets Seem in No Rush To Fill Their Top Spots

By CHRIS BROUSSARD

Published: May 18, 2000

The Nets wasted little time dismantling their basketball operations staff, but they apparently are in no rush to fill the positions left vacant by the reassignment of Michael Rowe, the team's former president, and the dismissal of Coach Don Casey.

Because two of their top candidates are working for championship contenders, the Nets may wait until summer to hire a director of basketball operations. And it is the director who will determine the new coach, so that process may take even longer.

Two candidates high on the list to head the Nets' basketball operations are David Kahn, general manager of the Indiana Pacers, and Mitch Kupchak, general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers. Other possibilities include Lenny Wilkens, John Thompson and Isiah Thomas. Others have contacted the Nets about their interest, including the former players Buck Williams and Len Elmore, but one YankeeNets executive said the team would prefer to hire someone who is already working in the National Basketball Association.

The Nets have received permission from both the Pacers and the Lakers to speak with Kahn and Kupchak, and have already had informal conversations with Kahn.

Kahn recently requested that any formal talks be postponed until after the Pacers' season. Indiana has a 3-2 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in their four-of-seven-game Eastern Conference semifinals.

Kahn, 38, is in his second year as the Pacers' general manager and, if hired by the Nets, would fill the dual role of president and director of basketball operations, one league executive said. A lawyer and a former sportswriter who covered the N.B.A. for The Oregonian in Portland, Kahn handles both business and basketball affairs for the Pacers.

One factor that has made Kahn appealing to the Nets is his role in the creation of Indiana's impressive Conseco Fieldhouse. With the Nets planning to erect a new arena in Newark for the 2003-4 season, that experience could work in his favor.

Kahn's hiring would perhaps bode well for Nets General Manager John Nash. Nash, whose future with the team will be determined by the new director, is held in high regard by Donnie Walsh, the president of the Pacers, who recommended Kahn to the Nets.

Besides acknowledging the Nets' interest in him yesterday, Kahn would not discuss the situation. ''It's flattering,'' he said. ''The Nets have been sensitive to the fact that we have a season to play.''

Thomas, who is a top candidate for the Pacers' coaching job once Larry Bird resigns after this season, is being considered by the Nets as both a director and a coach. If Kahn were hired by the Nets and Thomas did not sign with Indiana, he would certainly be considered for the Nets' coaching position, particularly because it is widely believed throughout YankeeNets that the franchise wants a high-profile name somewhere in its basketball operations department.

Kupchak, 45, is a native of New York who was a star high school basketball player on Long Island. Although Kupchak would not comment on the Nets job, it is believed that he will wait until after the Lakers' season to speak formally with New Jersey. Many people around the league feel Kupchak will not leave the Lakers because he is the logical choice to become executive vice president for basketball operations whenever Jerry West steps down.